Please Help

SMC1967

Hi Everybody, I'm new to all this, I hope you can help.

I am a single parent going through divorce. I live with my 16 year old son in the matrimonial home which is up for sale. My soon to be divorced wife lives apart with her new partner and my 12 year old daughter. Upon sale of the house, myself and my wife have agreed to split the proceeds down the middle, I have a large amount of debt which will be paid off upon sale of the house, from then, myself and my son will rent elsewhere. The piority of clearing the debt, which was partly our debt means that I must hold out for the right price for our home, otherwise if I sell and still have outstanding debt, it will make things very difficult to budget and provide for myself and my son.

The problem is that an offer has been lodged for our home, which is acceptable to my estranged wife, as she has a dual income coming in, however it is £2,500 less than I would require to make a clean start. Both myself and my wife are desparate to sell, but I have had to refuse to lower my valuation, therefore my wife and her new partner have contacted me stating that they will pay me £1,000 upon completion and division of the net proceeds if I was prepared to accept the lower offer. I would be happy with this, however I have a trust issue over the truthfulness of this offer. Without seeing a solicitor (they've had too much of my money) Can I make this offer legally binding in anyway?

Sorry for the length of my first post, I promise not to make them so long in the future:)

Money_maker

How about accepting in advance only? If that's your final word then the balls in your wifes court as to how desperate she is to sell. It also means it wont cost you in solicitors fees in case she doesn't pay up.

Wilma33

Or could she give it to a thrid party that you both trust?

Mojisola

What's your financial position going to be like after the house is sold? If you will need to claim any means tested benefits, you may have problems under the deprivation of assets rules if you repay debts.